Comcast Motorola DVR fast forward problem

After reading the xfinity forum posting describing similar problems (http://forums.xfinity.com/t5/X1/Re-DVR-Fast-Forward-Skips-to-End-of-Program/td-p/2455307), I write to ask if there is a fix for erratic movement of the DVR program when fast forwarding, i.e, instead of moving 1 minutes every 10 seconds, fast forward jumps 5 or more minutes or to the end of the broadcast as if moves forward. This problem has been a long-standing issue with my DVR and is very troublesome.

Re: Comcast Motorola DVR fast forward problem

I have gone from having precise control of my Comcast DVRs for years to suddenly (a few months ago) no longer having any real control when fast forwarding. When using FF2 it jumps ahead random durations (7 minutes, 13 minutes, 46 minutes, all the way to the end of the recording, pick a number - it's not a consistent jump). Not surprisingly, the jumps occur most often when the FF is running through commercials. Same thing happens when rewinding trying to get back to where I was trying to fast foward to. FF1 is also a problem - nowadays FF1 is super slow and about equal to just staying on Play. This has happened on DVRs which used to work fine and now I don't have FF/REW control. How does that happen? It feels like Comcast has purposely degraded the service in order to try to get me to abandon my 4 DVRs in favor of X1. It makes no sense that the technology which used to be flawlessly precise, but is now so poor I'm ready to cut the cord. Is this happening to anyone else? Is there a fix or is this purposeful service degradation by Comcast to try to force you to watch commercials or transition to X1 or what?

Re: Comcast Motorola DVR fast forward problem

The root cause is probably the MPEG4 upgrade that Comcast recently went through. The boxes seem to have a problem trying to figure out the timecodes when jumping in the much more compressed data. I have my non-Comcast universal remote configured to send the 30-second skip code, so rarely use FF. I have noticed issues with the 15-sec review, where it sometimes does not back up 15 seconds at all, but just the last 1-2 seconds.

I don't know if this is unique to the iGuide (non-X1), or if X1 also suffers from this.

Re: Comcast Motorola DVR fast forward problem

There are many universal remotes. The one I have is no longer available (RCA RCRP05, and was updated through it's JP1 interface. That said, out of the box, it does have the skip code already programmed onto a key. The skip only works with Motorola boxes when you use the older Motorola code set, Newer Motorola boxes support both the old Motorola codes and a newer code used by all Comcast boxes that does NOT have a skip code. I believe X1 allows you to set the PageUp to either skip 5 minutes or 30 seconds. It's not a remote code, but how the box interprets the code.

Re: Comcast Motorola DVR fast forward problem

andyross, Thanks for all your posts. I have seen you respond to a couple of posts that concern me. If Comcast is not paying you, they should be. You seem to have a better grasp on the issues than Comcast Technical Support. I will ask the question up front and then provide some context: Will a new DVR fix the FF skipping or is the problem Comcast is having issues with MPEG4 transmission, regardless of equipment or whether X1 or not??

I have called twice with FF problems. Sports channels (hockey on NSCHH and Golf Channel) are particularly frustrating == trying to fast forward through commercials is not smooth == will jump forward 2, 4, 8, whatever minutes.

Both times the Comcast Tech sent an update, signal to my home box and was convinced this would fix the problem. Nah.

I have an older box (has "Comcast" on the front with Motorla "M"). Both times I called Comcast they said I was recording and playing back on the cloud (which would make the FF skipping less likely?). Actually, my account is AVAILABLE to record on the cloud but later learned will NOT use cloud because my DVR is too old. Therefore I am recording and playing back on the local DVR box.

I am contemplating getting a new DVR box which would then record/play back on the cloud. Of course I would loose anything that was previously recorded. But if I get a new DVR, would that upgrade my service to X1 (that's what my contract shows)? And would recording/playing back on X1/cloud remove ff problems? Or are FF problems unrelated to equipment? Thanks in advance.